It had been 403 days since Western Michigan won a game away from home. It beat Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill., on Jan. 15, 2011. The counter reset Wednesday night after beating Ball State 67-65 in Worthen Arena.
With the loss, Ball State falls to 9-18 on the season, 4-10 in Mid-American Conference play.
However, coach Kelly Packard didn't believe the streak had a factor in the game.
"It doesn't matter to me who it is," Packard said. "It's being able to replicate the type of defensive energy and intensity that we saw on Sunday [84-76 win over Central Michigan] causes us to win games."
Ball State understands what road struggles are like — the Cardinals are 2-10 away from Muncie this season.
On the positive side, sophomore guard Brandy Woody followed up her play from Sunday, leaping to secure an offensive rebound while taking a hard foul from Western Michigan's Julia Henson early in the game.
Woody ended with 12 points and six rebounds.
The Cardinals were also successful in their 3-point shooting in the first half, with sophomore guard Jordan Huber hitting a three, then another a minute later. Freshman guard Brittany Carter also hit a pair of threes in the first half.
With 5:06 remaining in the first half, sophomore guard Jazmin Hitchens lay-up gave the Cardinals a one-point lead. The Broncos went on a 14-3 run to put the Cardinals in a 37-25 deficit going into halftime.
However, in the second half, Ball State came back, chipping away at Western Michigan's lead point-by-point. By the time the game was over, the Cardinals outscored the Broncos 40-30 in the second period.
In the game's last four minutes, senior co-captain Suzanne Grossnickle scored four points, three rebounds, one block and one steal. However, she said she still feels she left plays on the court.
"I don't think I performed well," Grossnickle said. "I missed a lot of easy shots and I could've got more rebounds."
The Cardinals travel to Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon, then return for the season's final home game against Toledo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
For more coverage on women's basketball, follow @Matt_D_McKinney on Twitter.
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